Will a revolver cut it for self defense anymore??????? (scenarios)

This is a discussion on Will a revolver cut it for self defense anymore??????? (scenarios) within the Carry & Defensive Scenarios forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; Originally Posted by ErnieNWillis
I can tell you this.....There is no such thing as TOO MUCH firepower.
Unless you have to swim somewhere!...

Hey Bill Mo: Not sure why the one sentence ended up in bold letters--not my intention. As far as following Guantes to the "end of the earth" so to speak, that is not what was meant. My comment is meant as a compliment to a very knowledgeable fellow forum member who, based on his forum comments and background is someone whose opinion I respect when I make decisions relating to issues of self defense.

In the more conventional incidents, such as robbery, assault, etc, where attaining or holding cover is much less likely, there is a point that is frequently overlooked in the discussion of revolvers vs high cap handguns. That is, regardless of the capacity of your weapon, how many armed aggressors do you think that you can take on before you are shot/incapacitated, irrespective of how many rounds your weapon holds.

None of this is an attack on high cap weapons, but merely to show that their advantages may not be a great as sometimes perceived. The choice of a weapon is a personal thing based on many different criteria that may be particular to the individual.

There may be times that a high cap weapon would be a significant advantage, but I do not believe that they are as frequent as often perceived.

This has been my arguement for many years.

Just how many BGs does somebody really believe that they can shoot before being cut down themselves by their enemy's fire?
And when we talk about serious determined BGs.....it gets even more difficult.
How many Feds/LEOs did it take to resolve your two most infamous shootouts......Miami and North Hollywood? - Just two BGs in each incident.

Basically, if we don't drop the one or two BGs that are trying to rob us quickly and with our first shots, and if there are other armed BGs that don't run, then we are probably in for a whole lot of ass whooping :)

Circumstances will affect virtually any situation and what will be an adequate defense weapon in that situation. I consider HD and active shooters, such as mall shooters, etc as rather unique, in that they are quite likely to involve holding cover and engagements that may be extended compared to other situations. HD, is further unique, in that it allows introduction of a long gun by the defender, where it would be impractical or impossible in other situations. While a high cap handgun may be of advantage, the use of cover in these situations is more favorable to reloading lower cap weapons, such as revolvers than other situations might be.

In the more conventional incidents, such as robbery, assault, etc, where attaining or holding cover is much less likely, there is a point that is frequently overlooked in the discussion of revolvers vs high cap handguns. That is, regardless of the capacity of your weapon, how many armed aggressors do you think that you can take on before you are shot/incapacitated, irrespective of how many rounds your weapon holds. It is my belief that once that number of armed aggressors exceeds two, your odds of prevailing are reduced significantly, irrespective of the capacity of your weapon.I agree with this statement, what FOF training I have done shows over two and you will most likely take hits. Only time I see high cap handgun advanage over revolver in this situation is, your wounds do not allow a reload but you could still pull the trigger, possible stopping the threat and keeping a loved one alive. But you figure the odds on that one happening. Information from LE shootings seems to indicate that criminals are becoming more proficient in the use of weapons which reduces the odds even more against multiple aggressors.

None of this is an attack on high cap weapons, but merely to show that their advantages may not be a great as sometimes perceived. The choice of a weapon is a personal thing based on many different criteria that may be particular to the individual.

While I appreciate the confidence, I would not wish for anyone to choose a particular platform just because I do, unless they are proficient with and have their own confidence in that platform.

There may be times that a high cap weapon would be a significant advantage, but I do not believe that they are as frequent as often perceived.

The difference in the Miami shootout and the ordinary parking lot robbery or home invasion is:

Most ordinary street robberies are by opportunists. They want to grab your money and run. The are, as someone said, looking for victims and not opponents.

How many times have you read of two robbers or three running like mad after one got shot and in some cases later abandoning their wounded. Wouldn't even take them to the hospital.

On the other hand, the BGs in Miami were cop haters. They looked at fighting cops in the same light as the Taliban looks at fighting our guys.

There is a really big difference in the kind of people the average citizen must defend himself against and the cop haters that the cops have to go up against.

That said, the picture changes dramatically if you run afoul of a gang like MS-13.

So it is my belief that a 6 or 7 shot revolver is more than enough unless one is in the habit of frequenting areas in the city dominated and controlled by gangs. In that case I would want all the lead I could carry. Even though I doubt anything after 5 shots would matter.

So it is my belief that a 6 or 7 shot revolver is more than enough unless one is in the habit of frequenting areas in the city dominated and controlled by gangs. In that case I would want all the lead I could carry. Even though I doubt anything after 5 shots would matter.

I personally would rather move :)
I used to live in a slum area of Rio de Janeiro, but moved two and a half years ago (after 20 years,) to a smallish town in the interior of São Paulo state.
I was young once, and the life in the slum bothered me not. - Infact I enjoyed certain aspects of it. (NOT the drugs of course, but the 24 hour nightlife, the young and available women etc.)
But at 51years of age right now, I want a little more peace of mind.

I freely admit I am no expert. Seems to me from studying the home invasion incidents that occur in my little piece of the world that they are either drug/gang related or opportunists looking for a soft target. I don't expect I will ever face a well armed, trained assault group. If I ever do, I am probably toast. That having been said, I take steps to make sure that my home is not a soft target. For me, that means security system, good locks, awareness, barking dogs, S&W 686+ and a Remington 12 gauge pump. If that isn't enough, I don't want to live here anymore.

For me, it would be the wheelgun when you hear that bump in the night.

I'll cosign on that. Last time I had a bump in the night situation, I grabbed a .357. Pure instinct - the weapon I feel is the most reliable and most powerful. Sorry I don't want to derail or detour this thread, but the quote above really hit home with me.

There is a saying "every round fired has a lawyer attached". I would much rather have 6 well aimed shots than a volley of 15 aimed in the general direction.

Capacity can not make up for lack of practice and training. Revolvers have their place as much as the semi auto pistol. Saying the revolver outdated is like saying the flat head screwdriver is outdated.

Do what works for you, carry the pistol as full as it can be whatever the capacity, practice often and hope you never have to use it.

I personally would rather move :)
I used to live in a slum area of Rio de Janeiro, but moved two and a half years ago (after 20 years,) to a smallish town in the interior of São Paulo state.
I was young once, and the life in the slum bothered me not. - Infact I enjoyed certain aspects of it. (NOT the drugs of course, but the 24 hour nightlife, the young and available women etc.)
But at 51years of age right now, I want a little more peace of mind.

I have heard that Rio de Janerio is a very dangerous area. A lot of tough men come out of that place. +1@ Royce Gracie.

I will concede or agree that on average, multiple assailants involved in a home invasion are going to flee if the first one is shot. I also agree that most of these invasions are probably taking place in the rough neighborhoods and conducted by or through gang members. Some other invasions, as mentioned on here previously, may also be of the type where the assailants do not flee if the first member is shot.

I still hold to my point that I made earlier in this thread, that you have to act according to each situation as to how it unfolds. You may find yourself in a situation where you have to shoot it out. You may find yourself in a situation where you would be better off barricading yourself in a room and calling 911, etc. Fot the most part, I'm going to say that in most if not all situations, we aren't going to know what situation we're in as far as knowing if we have a group of men looking for opportunity and not opponents, etc. We're going to most likely be entering any situation with very little knowledge. I say prepare and act for the worst case scenario. Instead of taking a risk and trying to clear a house out by yourself with the plan of shooting the first one in the face in hope that the others will flee if you do this, try to find a safe place to hold up in and call for help if at all possible. We have had plenty of LEOs on here telling us that clearing out a house is a very dangerous situation and even the pros do not attempt to do this solo. So what makes us think that we could do this? This isn't a good idea, even for the ones that have training to do it.

If you have multiple assailants then you have a multitude of odds going against your favor. Try to stack the odds in your favor as much as possible.

Perhaps its how the question was posed but I don't know why most of us are acting like you have to have a revolver or a semi-auto. Why not have both? Or like some of you have suggested, have a shotty & a rifle, etc. If a revolver is the only thing you have then that is what you have. I'd rather have a revolver than a stick and a rock. But if a stick and a rock was the only thing I had at my disposal, don't think for a minute I wouldn't use said stick & rock.

as a matter of fact, im feeling underpowered with my Beretta 92 and three 15-round mags full of hollow points, and a Glock 26 for backup........

im seriously considering either an AR-15 or a 12-gauge with a high-capacity tube.......

its getting ridiculously violent out here, folks.......this stuff is happening every day in the news.....

i say its time to up the firepower....anybody else?????

Bruce

I say it's time you upped your training instead of firepower.

If you are questioning if your weapon system is sufficient...test it out and determine if it is or is not up to snuff.

Take a class and push yourself and your system on time & targets.
Do force on force evolutions with sims.
Embrace the suck with an ECQC class from shivworks.com and grapple your way to your gun, then shoot from the clinch.

Then talk about more firepower.

Or, you can spend a lot of cash on a cooler gun which won't do much for you other than home more bullets and be cooler than your wheel gun.